Republicans Gear Up to Keep Bankster Crime Booming

While many of us, myself included, think that Dodd-Frank did not go far enough towards implementing financial reform, the bill does contain several good provisions.  For that reason, Republicans are going out of their way to prevent and weaken their implementation, as the following articles demonstrate.  They have even go so far as to appoint a US Chamber of Commerce lobbyist, specializing in deregulation of derivatives, to oversee the Congressional liaising with the Commodities Futures Trading Commission.

Ever since the Dodd-Frank financial reform law was signed in July, the question has been whether it would actually lead to a stable financial system. If the Republicans who will control the House next year get their way, the answer will surely be “no.”

The legislation requires regulators to write hundreds of rules to put the law into effect. To their credit, regulatory agencies have begun that process with a sense of mission and depth of expertise that was missing in the years before the financial crisis.

In particular, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission — which share the all-important regulation of the multitrillion-dollar derivatives market — have proposed rules that are tough and sophisticated. The new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is ramping up. The Financial Stability Oversight Council, led by the Treasury secretary, will report in January on how to implement the “Volcker rule” to restrict proprietary trading by banks.

The process is painstaking, and the outcome is uncertain. But progress is being made — and the House Republican leaders want none of that. Representative Spencer Bachus of Alabama, the next chairman of the House Financial Services Committee told The Birmingham News that “Washington and the regulators are there to serve the banks.” He later said he meant regulators should set parameters, not micromanage banks, yet he seems to prefer the parameters that were in effect before the crisis when regulators did serve the banks.

In a letter to the S.E.C. written with Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the next majority whip, he said Dodd-Frank would do little for economic recovery and warned against rules that could curtail growth. He and Representative Frank Lucas of Oklahoma, who will lead the agriculture committee, which shares jurisdiction over derivatives, have urged regulators to avoid “overly prescriptive” rules on derivatives speculation. He has also warned the Financial Stability Oversight Council that a strong Volcker rule would impose “substantial” economic costs, without making the system safer.

Mr. Bachus’s salvoes are only the start. Some Republicans want new laws to weaken the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and others have pledged numerous hearings, which seem intended not to oversee the process but to inhibit it by creating delays and communicating hostility.

Another damaging attack would be to starve the budgets of the S.E.C. and the commodities commission… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <NY Times>

Nothing here is unexpected.  Republicans represent Wall Street and oppose Main Street.

Here’s another reward to the US Chamber of Commerce for all that campaign cash.

A few days ago, incoming Agriculture Chairman Rep. Frank Lucas (R-OK) announced the hire of Ryan McKee as the senior staffer to oversee the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. McKee is currently a lobbyist working for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s division dedicated to deregulating complex derivatives products. In her new role working for Lucas, McKee will be liaising with regulators in charge of implementing new rules under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law to overhaul the over-the-counter derivatives market.

As ThinkProgress reported, the Chamber, which is funded by AIG, JP Morgan, CitiGroup, and other financial interests, took the lead role in fighting to defeat Wall Street reform efforts. Last year, the Chamber organized a conference call with other financial industry lobby groups and bank lobbyists to coordinate their efforts… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Think Progress>

Again, nothing here is unexpected, but in order to fight against it, we need to understand how Republicans are going about enabling Banksters to fulfill the Republican goal, second only to establishing a 1,000 year Republican Regime: the transfer or wealth from the poor and middle classes to the millionaires and billionaires.